Busy, and loving it.

I really do love being busy, as long as it's a productive kind of busy.

Atop a bunch of other things, here are some of the productive things I've finished in the past couple of days.



I got these pajamas done! They were a custom order. She fell in love with the Olivia the Pig fabric so her pajama bottoms and the cuffs on her pajama top are done in that fabric (flannel). The pants have red cuffs. She wanted pockets and a side-closing mandarin collar so I drafted the pattern and voila:



Contrasting pockets.



Embroidery on the collar was done by hand. So were the frog buttons.



Drawstring waist.

In other news, I got one of two kitchen towels done for a friend.



Modified a design from subversive cross stitch and put it in the colors she wanted. I had to dye the towels.

I'm feeling slightly accomplished today :)

In other news, feel like entering a contest for a book on knitting your own socks? Craftgossip is running another giveaway, this time for the book Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn. Go and enter!

It's about that time!

In honor of Earth Day I decided to do some recycling of my own.



I had a giant Goldfish snacks box that was empty. I didn't want to throw it away, but they're not really useful for storage that way sooooo...I cut it in half, covered it in crochet, and now it's another desk organizer/clutter catcher thing. It's already come in quite handy.

Anyone else doing anything cool to celebrate Earth Day?

Randomness

My current WIP (work in progress), a hardanger butterfly. Doing the border now and then I switch to detailing. I'm trying out these Rainbow Gallery threads and this hand dyed fabric.



These goodies arrived while I was on vacation. Don't mind the shirt in the middle, it's an inside joke. But...I did get my first issue of Piecework Magazine in quite a while and I got the book I won in a contest on http://needlework.craftgossip.com a while back. I haven't gotten a chance to do more than leaf through it for the moment, but I'll have some more time shortly.

Gold needles

These are gold needles. I use gold needles for ALL forms of embroidery because they last much longer.

You're supposed to toss needles after one project. I tend to stretch them a bit longer because I can, but still, I go through so many needles I might as well buy a sharps container so I can dispose of them safely.

Because of this, I switched to gold needles. They really DO last longer. About 2.5-3 projects on average.

These are DMC gold tapestry needles. I bought them at Jo-Ann's, though I buy gold needles almost anywhere I see them. I took this picture for a friend so she can see the various stages of use and not throw them away too soon. As you can see, under the gold plating is a regular needle, also plated. Needles without any plating go dull gray and you can feel as you stitch with them that they try to catch the fabric. They are no longer smooth and should be retired so that you can keep your project damage-free.

The needle on the left is new, and completely gold. The one in the center has considerable use and the gold is gone. You can see the regular needle underneath. The one at the far (right) end can no longer be used.

Just a little FYI. If you embroider regularly, consider switching to gold needles. I use both tapestry needles and embroidery needles (tapestry needles have blunt tips and are used for cross stitch, hardanger, etc...where you have to put the needle between looser fabric threads), and they're all gold. As a bonus, they're also easier to find!

I'm back!

This post will be picture heavy.



This is what happens when I pick up a new skill. I learned basic tatting on the plane (4 hour flight) and this is my first completion.



This is my first tatted lace. It's really loose between the loops, but I'll get there. I don't care much for this colorway, but it's practice anyway.

Now for something I know a little bit more about...



Ah, hardanger. I can do this in my sleep, which I actually proved today.



The back of the lacework section. The back of your work DOES matter. You will never be considered proficient at needlework with sloppy backs after all.



Another doily! This thread is from threadworx, a company I've been dying to try ever since I saw them in the web. Their products are just as delicious in person as they are on the web, I can assure you.



A close up of the colorway. The color changes on this thread are really short, making for vibrant stitches that showcase the colors pretty quickly. This makes it easy to use in small pieces.



For those who like the thread porn...here are some of the colorways I picked up in Arizona.

I'm glad to be back, though I wish my trip had been longer. Now it's back to work!

Wow, peeps!

I mention tatting and people start showing up.

That's actually awesome.

I left to go on my trip yesterday. I've arrived safely. Had some time during the 4 hour flight to actually teach myself some basic tatting stitches. I thank goodness that I spend all my time playing with string because it seems that my working knowledge of thread combined with the inability to do anything ELSE helped me figure out what I'm supposed to do. It's not that tough, actually, though I don't know how I'd teach anyone else...

I'll take pics at some point. I'm on someone else's computer so I didn't want to overload their system with photos and all the other stuff I'm regularly dabbling in.

Obviously I need to get a laptop. :p

Oh, and howdy to the people who stop by to give me helpful links and say hi :)

Tatting

I like to bring small crafts on a trip, so I guess on this 'vacation' I'll be learning tatting. I know the very basics of using shuttles, but needles? I don't know what those are for. I picked them up anyway. Might be used in the same technique or another one. I guess I'll know when I get some time to work with it.

Anyone else know tatting? I tried to get someone to show me, but it's a dying art and I can't find anyone that knows it.

It's important to keep the old skills alive. They contain and display our history.

Leaving on a jet plane.

I'm nowhere near packed. I don't even know what to bring at this point. Eh, I'll get it all done. I always do.

I wanted to write an article or two today to have some windfall for my travel time (I have to write a certain number of articles for work) but I've felt awful the last couple of days (ear and sinus infection, it's a doozy and I'm on 3 kinds of antibiotics...oof) so I haven't been following latest trends.

Anyone following the craft sites that knows some good trends I may have missed in the past week?

What's this? Oh it's chicken scratch embroidery, which is beautiful, easy, and full of history. Read more in this brief article I wrote, with another picture.

Also, if you want a free sewing machine, you can enter to win one at the link below. How awesome is that?

OMG frogs

Almost done with the Chinese frog buttons for this pair of pajamas. Have to buy another yard of soutache, then I can finish the last set. I think my comforter-eating rabbit wandered off with my last yard. Figures.

Once I get these buttons done I put them on, snap some pics, and send out some custom pajamas. I'll be very glad to get these done.